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If you love chocolate but still want to make choices that help you feel good, this Chocolate Strawberry Green Smoothie is about to become your new favorite blend. It tastes rich and chocolatey—almost like dessert—yet it’s made with simple, plant-based ingredients, including a generous handful of kale.
This recipe proof that green smoothies don’t have to taste green. When you pair leafy green vegetables with the right fruits and flavors, they disappear into something sweet, creamy, and totally satisfying.
Table of Contents
Why This Green Smoothie Tastes Like Dessert
The secret is balance. Sweet strawberries and banana bring natural sweetness, cacao adds deep chocolate flavor, and almond milk keeps everything smooth and creamy. Kale blends right in (or sneaks in), adding nutrients without competing with the chocolate-strawberry combo.
It’s the kind of smoothie you make when you want something indulgent—but still want to nourish your body.
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Ingredients You’ll Need
- Kale: A leafy green in a dessert?! Kale yeah!!! De-stem before adding to the blender to cut down on the bite or use baby kale for a milder kale option. You can freeze kale and use later, too.
- Almond milk: Unsweetened non-dairy milk is a great way to thicken a smoothie. Almond milk provides a bit of protein and a mild, nutty flavor that compliments both the fruit and cacao. You can also make your own almond milk, which tastes amazing.
- Strawberries: During strawberry season, use fresh for the sweetest taste. If you’re blending this smoothie during the winter months, frozen strawberries will give you the best flavor.
- Banana: I love freezing bananas to have on hand for tasty treats. Bananas provide natural sweetness as well as the milkshake flavor and texture that I want.
- Cacao powder: Unsweetened cacao powder is a chocolate-lovers superfood. No need for extra sweetener since you’re using other fruity ingredients. Surprisingly, cacao also helps balance the bite from the kale.
How to Make a Chocolate Strawberry Green Smoothie
Before you blend this one up, if you’re new to smoothies or want to make sure yours turns out thick, creamy, and never gritty, I recommend starting with my how to make a smoothie guide. It walks you through the simple formula I use every time—what to blend first, how to balance flavors, and how to make leafy greens disappear into dessert-worthy smoothies like this one. Once you’ve got that down, this Chocolate Strawberry Green Smoothie is practically foolproof.
- Start by adding the kale and almond milk to your blender. Blend until completely smooth—this step helps avoid any leafy texture. If your blender struggles with kale, check out my list of recommended blenders for smoothies.
- Next, add the frozen strawberries, banana, and cacao powder. Blend again until thick, creamy, and dessert-like.
- Pour into a glass and enjoy right away.
Ingredient Swaps & Variations
This smoothie recipe is flexible and easy to customize:
- Sub spinach for kale if you prefer a milder green.
- Swap unsweetened cocoa powder for cacao powder if that’s what you have.
- Use ¼ banana + ¼ avocado to lower natural sugar while keeping it creamy.
- Replace almond milk with oat milk, coconut milk, or any plant milk you love.
- Boost protein, healthy fat and fiber by adding in homemade protein powder.
Why I Add Kale to Smoothies
Surprisingly, this dessert-like chocolate strawberry smoothie only has 15 grams of natural sugar. It also boasts 9 grams of fiber, helping to process that natural sugar into a smooth energy boost that won’t leave you jittery. This comes from the mighty kale leaves. Adding kale to smoothies provides protein and fiber to break down the sugar from the fruit into useable energy for your body.
Recipe Tip
Add 1/2-1 cup of leafy greens to any fruit smoothie to help cut down on the natural sugar spikes. If you’re new to leafy greens, start with a small amount! Then as you get used to adding them, start increasing the amount to a healthy giant handful (one cup).
More Chocolate Smoothie Recipes
I love the idea of a dessert that gives my body a natural energy boost instead of putting me to sleep. I have an entire collection of chocolate smoothies that taste like a sweet treat yet pack in the plant-based benefits. Here are a few more:
- Chocolate covered cherry smoothie has a handful of spinach
- Chocolate banana smoothie uses frozen cauliflower
- Shamrock shake blends spinach and mint
- Skinny mint smoothie combines fresh mint leaves and baby spinach
If you make this chocolate strawberry green smoothie recipe, I’d love to hear how it turned out in the comment box below. Your feedback helps me and all the readers in this community. And if you’re interested in more plant-based recipes (and exclusive content), sign up for my weekly recipe newsletter.
Chocolate Strawberry Green Smoothie
Ingredients
- 1 cup kale
- 1 cup almond milk
- 1 cup strawberries frozen
- ½ banana
- 2 tablespoon cacao powder
Instructions
- Place kale and almond milk in blender. Puree until smooth.
- Add fruit and cacao, and blend again.
Helpful Tools
Notes
- Use at least one frozen fruit to make the smoothie cold.
- Swap in unsweetened cocoa powder for cacao powder.
- To lower the natural sugar, use 1/4 banana and 1/4 avocado.
- Use the plant milk of your choice in place of the almond milk.
- Use the leafy greens of your choice in place of the kale.
Nutrition
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review for a chance to win signed copies of my cookbooks!No. The chocolate and strawberries completely mask the flavor of the kale. When you blend the kale with almond milk first, it becomes smooth and neutral, letting the dessert-like flavors shine.
Yes! Just make sure the cocoa powder is 100% unsweetened and the only ingredient listed is cocoa powder.
Yes! While this might be an opinion, chocolate typically goes well with most berries. Strawberries provide a sweet balance to the bitterness of cacao powder.
Kale is more nutrient-dense and holds up well to bold flavors like cacao. Its slightly earthy taste disappears once blended, making it a great green for rich, chocolatey smoothies.
Favorite smoothie so far!
Super yummy, I’m new to smoothies and I’m loving them so far!!
This was delicious without being too sweet. A winner.
A little bit of cocoa can go a long way! Using almond milk filled me up more and I ended up eating less for the day! The next time I make this I think I will either use fresh strawberries or use raspberries instead. I liked it!
This recipe is very tasty! It is a dark chocolate taste though, so be prepared for that.
I think today’s is my favourite so far!
I wasn’t as big of a fan of this one. I’m chalking it up to adding protein powder and making it too thick. But I couldn’t really taste the spinach so there’s that!
I love this smoothie. As a sugar free lady, I will be using this recipe when I feel the need for a chocolate hit. Health benefits and satisfying cravings
This was absolutely delicious! I think the almond milk and using frozen strawberries made it extra creamy. Adding this to the regular routine!!
This was a very good smoothie. More like a desert. This one will be added to my favorites for sure.
Not my favorite! Which is shocking because I love all thing chocolate. Another poster mentioned super ripe starwberries and i think fresh berries in this one might make it better. The frozen ones were rather tart and clashed a bit with the cocoa.
He Tiffany,
Feel free to add some all natural sweeteners to your smoothie if it’s too bitter. You are completely correct that if your fruit isn’t perfectly ripe it might cause your smoothie to taste tart.
Check out our recommendation for all natural sweeteners:
Chocolaty deliciousness. One of my favorites!
Love love love this recipe!
I was suffering from a migraine and craving my usual chocolate junk food but made this instead. So glad I did! Such a great and filling treat! I added oats and almond butter for a complete meal. It more than eliminated my craving, kept me full, and took away my icky headache and groggy feeling. My current favorite smoothie.
I will thaw the frozen strawberries next time. It was to cold since it’s winter in Minnesota, it was nice and thick and I did add some ground flaxseed.
Chocolate lover here! I really enjoyed this smoothie, it is a chocolate lovers dream minus the sugar. It isnt all that sweet but did surprisingly satisfy my sweet tooth. This will be a go to smoothie in order to cut out candy bars and other sweet cravings.